Wherever We Are

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything else that I reference! Natalie and Francesca own themselves respectively! I only own myself and my OCs!

Chapter Twenty Five

Francesca's POV

Dear Olympia,

Finally! It was about time you and Legolas got engaged…Or whatever people call it here. I'm really excited and very happy for the both of you. As of right now, meaning me writing this letter, I haven't told Merry, Pippin, Sam or Frodo yet. But I'm going to see them all at some point today, so I'll make sure they know. I'm sure they'll all have some form of congratulations to send you…So congrats in advance from the rest of the hobbit contingency. I wish you could see the stupid grin on my face right now, but I'm fairly sure you can imagine it. When you figure out a date for the wedding, I want to know about it! You know, so the hobbits and I can make plans to take the cross-Middle Earth road trip it'll take to get to Mirkwood.

As usual, nothing happens here in the Shire and there isn't much of anything to report. Sam has confided in Frodo and me that he plans on talking to Rosie's father at some point in the near future to find out if he will allow Sam and Rosie to get married. I'm sure Rosie's father will allow it, but Sam got all wound up and nervous about it a while back. It took both me and Frodo to calm him down and tell him that everything would be alright. So that means Sam and Rosie's wedding is somewhere in the near future….I'm going to say in the next year or so? I don't know exactly.

Have you heard from Cellyn yet at all? I haven't had the chance to write to him yet. I think I'll write a letter and send it back with the next messenger to come here from Rivendell. I think I've mentioned this before, but the Shire has absolutely no foreign policy. All of my letters to you guys have to go through Rivendell first. And even then I can only get a hold of an elf messenger when someone comes to give me letters from you and Kate. Usually said messenger will stay a few days at a nearby inn to give me time to respond. It's really rather annoying sometimes. But there's no way around it so we'll just have to suck it up.

As I look back on recent events like Sam wanting to talk to Rosie's father, I realize just how close we are to the end of the story…And then whatever happens afterwards. After Sam and Rosie get married, it's T-minus four years until Frodo leaves for Valinor with Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond and Gandalf. The movies never say what happens next, and I don't know if the books do. It feels strange, to know how little time there is left. I know that four years seems like a long time when you say it but…It's really not long at all. And you're an elf now for God's sake…Time is sort of lost on you and Kate now, isn't it? I know I've asked this before, but seriously…Where has Gandalf disappeared to? No one's seen him since the end of the war.

Have you heard from Natalie about this insane (yet somehow brilliant—seriously, how do you and Kate always manage to seem both nuts and brilliant at the same time?) Thanksgiving in Gondor idea? I realize that there's still some sexist asshat giving Nat trouble, and I haven't heard anything else about that yet…But I like the idea of us all meeting in Gondor for a Thanksgiving thing. Speaking of the asshat, have you heard anything else on that? What's going on and are we taking a road trip to Gondor to kick his ass?

Anyway, I miss you guys. I really do. Write back soon, got it?

Love Always,

Francesca Adams of the Shire

P.S. Writing that still feels weird.

I read over the letter yet again before sealing it in an envelope, along with a second letter I had written to Cellyn the previous day. Merry had come in from Buckland a few days ago and told us he'd seen an elf, presumably from Rivendell, heading towards Hobbiton.

He should have been here by now, shouldn't he? Unless he's staying at the Green Dragon Inn…Or has no idea where to go from said inn. Hmm. Maybe I'll have to find out when we all go down to the Green Dragon later. I thought, tucking both letters into the satchel I'd taken to carrying around. The aforementioned satchel contained a sketchbook, pencils, some money in case Merry and/or Pippin talked me into going to the Green Dragon with them, and at the moment, letters that needed to be mailed to some pretty extremely faraway places.

After checking my things again, Frodo and I left Bag End and headed down the road towards the Green Dragon. It was nearly time for dinner and earlier in the week Merry and Pippin had proposed the idea that we should all go out together, seeing as no one had other plans or responsibilities. Sam joined us as we passed his hobbit hole and the three of us headed for the place.

"Hello Frodo! Hello Sam! Hello Francesca!" Pippin called to us as we entered the Green Dragon.

"Hey Pippin." I replied as I sat down at the table Merry and Pippin had gotten for us.

"How have you two been? Not causing too much trouble, I hope." Sam stated. Merry and Pippin both looked offended.

"I'll have you know that we have done no such thing!" Merry defended.

"Though, we did see some young lads trying to steal mushrooms from Farmer Maggot earlier today." Pippin added.

"Oh really? How'd that go?" I asked, slightly sarcastic.

"Rather well I'd say. They made it back to wherever they were going without being torn apart by Farmer Maggot's dogs." Pippin answered, smirking.

"And you had nothing to do with it, I presume?" Frodo commented. I snickered at the indignant looks on Merry and Pippin's faces.

"This coming from the hobbit who became infamous for stealing mushrooms from Farmer Maggot as a tween." Merry commented.

Merry's comment was met with a round of laughter from everyone at the table. Soon afterwards we ate dinner. Following that, the group began to dissipate. Merry and Pippin were the first to do as much. The two had drunk likely more than they should have, and were soon dancing on our table to some tune another hobbit in the bar had struck up on a fiddle.

At that point, Sam, Frodo and I moved to the bar counter where Sam started up a conversation with Rosie. Frodo seemed to lose himself in his thoughts and I scanned the crowd for the elf Merry had told us about. I found him sitting quietly in a corner of the bar, trying to avoid the drunken antics of hobbits. I patter Frodo on the shoulder, gestured towards the elf, and got up to talk to him.

"Hello!" I greeted as I sat down next to the elf.

"Good evening, my lady. Do you, by any chance, know where I would find a hobbit by the name Francesca Adams? I have a letter addressed to her from Imladris." The elf asked politely. I bit back a smirk.

"Uh, sir…I am Francesca Adams." I told him awkwardly. He smiled at me.

"Well, Lady Francesca, I come to you with a letter from Imladirs. I believe it is from your friend Lady Katelyn." The elf replied, handing me a letter.

"Thanks." I replied. "Uh. If you don't mind, do you think you'd be able to take these letters back to Rivendell for me when you leave? Hobbits don't exactly have messengers who would go to Mirkwood or Rohan." I replied sheepishly, digging the letters I'd packed earlier out of the satchel I wore.

The elf told me he'd be able to take my letters for me, and I thanked him profusely. Afterwards, I went back to the table Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam and I had sat at earlier, finding that Merry and Pippin had slightly sobered up and were sitting down once again. Sam and Frodo came back a few minutes later.

"Hey guys. I've got some news for you from our dear friends in the outside world." I stated. All four hobbits looked at me with interest.

"Who is this news from?" Sam asked.

"And what has happened?" Merry continued.

"Relax guys. It's nothing bad. Quite the opposite, actually." I answered, grinning. The hobbits all looked at me expectantly. "Legolas has finally decided to propose to Olympia! I found out in a letter from her not too long ago. They're finally engaged! We don't know when the wedding is yet, probably because they haven't figured that out yet themselves. But that's coming up, so we'll have to make plans to take a cross-Middle Earth road trip." I announced. Everyone grinned and laughed at the news.

"Well! I think this calls for a toast!" Pippin stated.

I laughed as Pippin went off to the bar, coming back with his arms loaded with five mugs of ale. Sam made a short speech about wishing Legolas and Olympia eternal happiness and we toasted. Of course, this led to Merry and Pippin dancing on tables again. I guess they weren't as sober as I thought. I thought, rolling my eyes at them.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful, save that we had to take Merry and Pippin back to Bag End, as it was late and neither of them was making it back to Buckland. Merry and Pippin slept like logs in the guest rooms Frodo and I had dragged them to. And for the first time in what felt like forever, I found a peaceful sleep within minutes of curling up in bed; I'm fairly sure Frodo did too.

Author's Note: This chapter is relatively short and kind of filler-like and I apologize for that. The muse has mostly abandoned me for…we're coming up on a week now. It was unbearably hot last week where I am and my brain completely turns to mush when that happens. So…I blame this on heat-induced Writer's Block, if there is such a thing. Read and Review please!